Data cuts in and out

[DennyCrane]

I've been a PM customer for a couple months now, coming from 20 years with TELUS. I work from home, so I haven't really had lots of opportunity to test my LTE (3G throttled) data much, hence why I waited so long to post this question. 

Right from the start I noticed inconsistencies in my data connection. When it works, it works great. I was initially concerned with the 3MBPS cap, but it actually doesn't affect me all that much. My issue is that the data seems to cut out quite frequently when I'm not on WiFi. It's not slow, it just doesn't work. But 'LTE+' shows great signal on my Pixel 3a. How I can tell is that it won't load a website, or a more common issue is that I try to send a WhatsApp message and the message gets stuck with the clock (not delivered to the server) for 40 seconds, or even upwards of two minutes. 

At first I thought maybe this was a one off, but even with how infrequently I leave WiFi, it happens EVERY time I am on LTE. And it's not the initial switchover; it happens after I've already been on LTE for some time and have been using the data connection without issue. I am not moving positions, and I'm in a very good signal location. And it happens several times per session. 

I have no idea what's going on, but this is not going to work for me. I tried my wife's phone today and was able to reproduce the same result within a minute.

As far as troubleshooting is concerned, I tried rebooting my phone and resetting APN settings to default. Any other thoughts on what I can try?

[computergeek541]

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@DennyCrane wrote:

Oh yes, the infamous $48/year "licensing fee" which became a $6.95 "system access fee". Cell phone sales people literally sold it as a government fee!

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of in the case of Bell, $8.95

Did anyone there ever get fired for printing thousands of brochures that said that a higher price was "one more reason to choose Bell"?

I have read about type of emergency system that can be used by some to gain higher priority on the network, but I'm not too sure how that works, but understand that's meant for use by emergency/essential workers.  Also, it's well known that a network is supposed to disconnect a caller if someone else is making a 911 call and there isn't enough network capacity for all the current calls in that area.

[DennyCrane]

Oh yes, the infamous $48/year "licensing fee" which became a $6.95 "system access fee". Cell phone sales people literally sold it as a government fee!

[computergeek541]

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@DennyCrane wrote:

Good to know. Until this thread I had no idea that PM got lower priority. There could be an argument for whether that's right or not, but at the very least this should be made clear when you're singing up. I knew I was singing up for a budget carrier with no phone customer service, throttled speed, prepaid, limited roaming options etc. I also was lead to believe I was singing up for "the same great network". Not your issue of course, but something that should be called out in plain language on their website.

And yes, I always keep my phone up to date.  I'm on Android 11 with a security update from February 5th. 

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I'm not sure that is the case when it comes to priority to the network.  Such statements have to anyalyzed with some skepticism. Those who know for sure if this is the case likely wouldn't be authorized to speak on Telus's behalf. I have no doubt that this is repeated internally within the company. That doesn't mean the information is necessarily correct. For years, carrriers went along with the system access fee being a government fee, miinformation so widespread that many believed it to be true. Such statements about network priority (whether true or not) encourage customers to sign up to the more profitable postpaid services. 

[Nezgar]

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@DennyCrane wrote:

Good to know. Until this thread I had no idea that PM got lower priority. There could be an argument for whether that's right or not, but at the very least this should be made clear when you're singing up.

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Of course that's not official... but is the general sentiment of observations by us here on these forums - customers Just Like You™ 😁

[DennyCrane]

Good to know. Until this thread I had no idea that PM got lower priority. There could be an argument for whether that's right or not, but at the very least this should be made clear when you're singing up. I knew I was singing up for a budget carrier with no phone customer service, throttled speed, prepaid, limited roaming options etc. I also was lead to believe I was singing up for "the same great network". Not your issue of course, but something that should be called out in plain language on their website.

And yes, I always keep my phone up to date.  I'm on Android 11 with a security update from February 5th. 

[gpixel]

@DennyCrane

we do, but we give tower priority to Telus, Bell, Koodo and Virgin customers first. is this still happening now? I find that mine happens during peak hours. 

did you update your pixel to the February patch yet? maybe there are LTE radio improvements

[DennyCrane]

I've lived in Cloverdale for 15 years and before that in Langley for 15 years. TELUS has always been great in my current home and my last home. Only when I switched to PM did I start having issues. And to be clear, phone/text work without issue. My signal will show I have LTE+, but the data won't work for anywhere from 20 seconds to 2 minutes sometimes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but with PM I'm connecting to the exact same towers I was on TELUS.

[gpixel]

@DennyCrane Langley has a lot of trees... 

you can check the cell towers in the area by using this site.

  https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

• Dial *#*#4636#*#* 
• then tap phone information

you can find out the frequency and match it up with ertyu to find the tower you may be connecting too. 

earfcn is the frequency in MHz

use signal strength to estimate which tower it might be

I usually lose connection when I'm connected to 5255 MHz(700mhz band) the tower is about 1.5km away

[DennyCrane]

I have tried removing the sim and powering down for 5 minutes. Didn't make a difference. Mods reset something at their end, which didn't help either. 

I've been on 3G for the last few hours and that seems to work. I wouldn't call that a solution, but it is definitely working well. 

[gpixel]

@DennyCrane

Telus is top tier. they have first dibs on the best towers...

turn off your phone and remove and reinstall the sim. then do a network reset. it shouldn't be happening all the time.

open settings
scroll down to system
tap on reset options
tap reset wifi,mobile & Bluetooth
tap reset settings and restart

[Nezgar]

@DennyCrane 

No I agree... but for troubleshooting for now. I also noticed PM has no IPv6, only IPv4 and the traceroute seems sub-optimal routing through alberta and US to get back to a canada IP in Vancouver or Regina. Do you recall if Telus Mobility "flagship" LTE offered IPv6?

With IPv4 only theres at least one layer of NAT going on, which may incur low TCP  connection idle timeouts, which could be what you're observing - old connection dead, new connection works when it retries after 20s etc....

[DennyCrane]

Thanks I'll try 3G. My concern with that though is that as more and more network capacity is shifted to 4 and 5g, that 3g may become less and less reliable. 

[Nezgar]

@DennyCrane it may have something to do with Public Mobile's throttling they do on LTE, which isnt throttled on 3G HSPA - it might be interesting to force 3G (HSPA/WCDMA) for a while and see if you notice any difference in behaviour?

[DennyCrane]

The Pixel 3a is not even 2 years old. It wasn't released until April 2019, and I didn't get it until summer. 

It's just so odd that on TELUS I never had this issue. It's not the end of the world right now because of working from home and being locked up for covid, but if this is how it's always going to be I'll probably switch back to TELUS or maybe Koodo once we're back to more normal times and not stuck at home all the time.

I have great signal, yet the data just stops working. And it happens all the time. I just went out for an hour and barely touched my phone. At one point I sent a WhatsApp message to my wife from a parking lot in Langley with full signal, and it took 20 seconds to be delivered. Once it kicked in I was able to continue using it without issue for the next couple messages. 

[gpixel]

@DennyCrane I also experience the same thing. airplane mode and switching to HSPA are the two workarounds. 

how is the pixel 3a old?

Plans with 3G data may reach download speeds of up to 3 Mbps, with the coverage and reliability of the LTE network. Speed and signal strength may vary with your device, configuration, Internet traffic, environmental conditions, applicable network management and other factors

i have found that when a tower is overcrowded (usually the best signal) pm customers will get transfered to a tower further away and worse signal. airplane mode is the fastest fix, but don't be surprised if you get kicked off that tower again. with HSPA I do not have this issue, instead my battery life takes a hit. I just leave LTE on and use airplane mode, it takes 2 seconds. this happens here and there when I'm at home and at work

[mm80]

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@charliewilliams wrote:

it may be that your phone is a bit old and is using a network it cant handle.

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It can't handle the network?  If the phone can't handle the network, it doesn't work. It doesn't disoconnect when using data.

[charliewilliams]

it may be that your phone is a bit old and is using a network it cant handle.

[darlicious]

@DennyCrane 

It couldn't hurt to toggle airplane mode on/off. Maybe a new connection to the network will help.

[MoreYummy]

yea, let us know how it works out if tey find anything.

Sometimes the data is sketchy or drop little.  should not happen often.  unless it is normal in your area, thats another issue .

[DennyCrane]

Thanks. Ticket logged. I wasn't able to provide details, but I'm sure I will be able to once they respond. 

[HALIMACS]

Yup, it is @DennyCrane 

To contact a moderator, there are 2 methods:

1. Use the ticketing system for a faster response time. Click on the chat bubble in the lower right and type moderator assistance, then select account-related issue, then select you need a human now.  Follow the prompts to submit a ticket,  or, 
2. Send a private message to the moderator by clicking here

Watch for their response in your Community private mailbox which will be indicated by a number on the small envelope icon to the left of your Community avatar.

[DennyCrane]

Do you think it's worth contacting a moderator over? I have several friends and family members in PM, and none have reported this issue (except my wife).

[computergeek541]

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@DennyCrane wrote:

I can try to force HSPA, but it seems odd that LTE worked fine when I was with TELUS, but now on PM it loses the connection (even though it shows a connection) so often. It's the same network after all. 

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I suspect that this could be the result of something possibly going wrong with the artificial speed limiting that is imposed on customers while using the LTE network for the current price plans. 

[DennyCrane]

I can try to force HSPA, but it seems odd that LTE worked fine when I was with TELUS, but now on PM it loses the connection (even though it shows a connection) so often. It's the same network after all. 

[computergeek541]

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@DennyCrane wrote:

I've been a PM customer for a couple months now, coming from 20 years with TELUS. I work from home, so I haven't really had lots of opportunity to test my LTE (3G throttled) data much, hence why I waited so long to post this question. 

Right from the start I noticed inconsistencies in my data connection. When it works, it works great. I was initially concerned with the 3MBPS cap, but it actually doesn't affect me all that much. My issue is that the data seems to cut out quite frequently when I'm not on WiFi. It's not slow, it just doesn't work. But 'LTE+' shows great signal on my Pixel 3a. How I can tell is that it won't load a website, or a more common issue is that I try to send a WhatsApp message and the message gets stuck with the clock (not delivered to the server) for 40 seconds, or even upwards of two minutes. 

At first I thought maybe this was a one off, but even with how infrequently I leave WiFi, it happens EVERY time I am on LTE. And it's not the initial switchover; it happens after I've already been on LTE for some time and have been using the data connection without issue. I am not moving positions, and I'm in a very good signal location. And it happens several times per session. 

I have no idea what's going on, but this is not going to work for me. I tried my wife's phone today and was able to reproduce the same result within a minute.

As far as troubleshooting is concerned, I tried rebooting my phone and resetting APN settings to default. Any other thoughts on what I can try?

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Since this only happens when you're connected to the LTE network, I don't see this as an APN setting issue. The settings are either right or they're not in the sense that if not correct, data wouldn't work at all. Also, the APN settings are the same whether you're connecting to LTE or HSPA.  

A few weeks back, I did notie that I couldn't use data when I was connected to LTE. This was a one-off thing as disconnecting mobile data and reconnecting fixed it immediately. It also hasn't happened to me since. 

I would try comparing the performance the 3Mbps LTE performance to HSPA network performances. There are places that it can perform just as well, with equally good pings.

[HALIMACS]

Can you 'force' the phone to use 3G, @DennyCrane 

This may or may not be relevant to your situation - read it on another thread and just throwing it out there...